While the liberal press obsesses over President Obama's recent gaffe regarding Kamala Harris, there has been little coverage of his proposed 2013 budget.

Obama is now openly promoting cuts to Social Security in the form of "chained CPI" -- a measure of inflation that assumes that if real food becomes too expensive, the poor will simply survive on something cheaper, such as cat food. Although this has been dismissed by many in the press as a mere "tweak," the real consequence will be a cut to Social Security benefits of between 5 and 10%, depending on the age of the recipeient.

Obama's proposed budget also includes deep cuts to Medicare (beyond even those proposed by Tea Party Republican Paul Ryan), as well as tax increases on the middle class.

Congratulations to the four Supervisors who thwarted the City Family's attempt to illegally fire Sheriff Mirkarimi: Christina Olague (D5), David Campos (D9), John Avalos (D11), and Jane Kim (D6). See the Green Party's statement on Sheriff Mirkarimi for why we think he should be allowed to serve his term.

And of course, the presidential campaign is in full swing. While the corporate media have been focusing on Santorum and other candidates of the 1%, little attention has been given to Green Party candidates such as Jill Stein. Partisan Democrat bloggers are gearing up to spend the year hyping Obama and attacking those who discuss alternative strategies. As usual, Glenn Greenwald has good coverage of this, although he mentions the strategy of building 3rd parties only in passing.

The SF Green Party endorses the "Occupy San Francisco" movement and the expression of direct democracy that it represents. The New York City Green Party has also issued a statement in support of Occupy Wall Street.

For more information, see their website, http://www.occupysf.com, and you can get live updates on Twitter at #OccupySF. OccupySF holds general assemblies (a means of making decisions through Consensus, similar to the way we make decisions in the Green Party) Sunday-Friday at 6 PM at the occupation site in front of the Federal Reserve Building downtown. All are welcome to participate, speak, and vote on Assembly proceedings. On Saturdays, they plan to hold general assemblies at noon in Union Square. Be sure to check the website for any updates.